New Delhi: IndiGo airlines said Wednesday that due to the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, it has decided to suspend its flights on the Bangalore-Hong Kong route and on the Delhi-Chengdu route from February 1 to 20.
The low-cost carrier said for now, it will continue to operate the Kolkata-Guangzhou flight which it is ‘monitoring on a daily basis’.
“And for our operating crew, we are ensuring that they return to India on the inbound flights without any layover in China,” the airline said in a statement.
Moreover, according to a source, India’s largest airline has also told its crew members — who are working on flights connecting India with East Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore – to wear N95 masks at all times when they are on ground.
“However, these crew members have been asked not to wear the mask when they are flying. They have also been told to avoid public places, meat from unverified sources and uncooked meat in East Asian cities. They have also been told to wash their hands frequently,” the source added.
In India, many people are under observation in hospitals for suspected coronavirus infection including in Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha and the national capital. People returning to the country after visiting China are being regularly screened for the deadly virus at airports across the country.
Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. The virus, which has killed 132 people and affected at least 6,000 others in China, is a novel strain not seen before.
The low-cost carrier stated that the suspension of flights in the two routes is purely temporary and precautionary measures.
“We understand that these measures will cause inconvenience to our customers and we will be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers,” the airline clarified.
It should be stated here that Air India has kept a 423-seater jumbo plane ready in Mumbai to airlift Indian citizens from Wuhan city in China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
PTI